WO R K M A N • WO R K M A N . c O MWORKMAN is a registered trademark of Workman Publishing Co., Inc.

Mark kurlansky is a former commercial fisherman and the New York Times bestselling author of Cod, Salt, The Big Oyster, and other books. He’s won numerous

awards, including a James A. Beard Award, an ALA

Notable Book Award, a New York Public Library Best Books of the Year Award, and a National Parenting Publications (NAPPA) gold award for World Without Fish. He lives with his wife and daughter in New York City and Gloucester, Massachusetts. His website is markkurlansky.com.

“A wonderfully fast-paced and engaging primer on the key questions surrounding fish and the sea. GreAt for A CLAssrooM.”

—Paul GreenberG, author of Four Fish

As featured in the New York

State Education Department’s Expeditionary

Learning Common Core ELA

Curriculum

World Without Fish is the uniquely illustrated narrative nonfiction account—for kids—of what is happening to the world’s oceans

and what they can do about it.

Written by Mark Kurlansky, World Without Fish connects all the dots—biology,

economics, evolution, politics, climate, history, culture, food, and nutrition—in a way

that kids can really understand. It describes how the fish we most commonly eat,

including tuna, salmon, cod, swordfish—even anchovies—could disappear within

fifty years, and the domino effect it would have: the oceans teeming with jellyfish and

turning pinkish orange from algal blooms, the seabirds disappearing, then reptiles,

then mammals. It describes the back-and-forth dynamic of fishermen, who are the

original environmentalists, and scientists, who not that long ago considered fish an

endless resource. It explains why fish farming is not the answer—and why sustainable

fishing is, and how to help return the oceans to their natural ecological balance.

Interwoven with the book is a twelve-page full-color graphic novel. each beautifully

illustrated chapter opener links to the next to form a larger fictional story that

perfectly complements the text.

World Without Fish has also been included in the new York State expeditionary learning english language arts Curriculum. To

access that curriculm, please visit: http://commoncoresuccess.elschools.org/curriculum/ela/grade-6/module-3b.

Continued

Paper: $14.95 • $19.95 Can.ISBN: 978-0-7611-8500-0 • No. 18500

WO R K M A N • WO R K M A N . c O MWORKMAN is a registered trademark of Workman Publishing Co., Inc.

1. What is the central idea of World Without Fish? How is it conveyed

throughout the book? rST.6-8.1,2

2. Define: sustainability, extinction, adaptation, food web/chain,

overfishing, cataclysm, pollution, climate change/global warming,

“a movement”, and environmental group. Write a paragraph using

all of these terms beFOre reading World Without Fish and also after

reading it. rST.6-8.4/W.6.4

3. How does the author’s background influence his writing? What kind

of person do you think he is? How does Kurlansky’s point of view

contribute to the authenticity of the content?

4. Discuss Kurlansky’s purpose in writing World Without Fish. What does

he want to answer, explain, or describe? How is his purpose conveyed

through the text? rI.6.6

5. analyze the structure Kurlansky uses to organize the text. How do

the major sections contribute to the book’s message and to an

understanding of the topic? rST.6-8.5

6. How does Kurlansky integrate visual information? How are the

illustrations and graphics used to develop the topic and promote a

coherent understanding of ideas? rST.6-8.7

7. How does the style and content contribute to the power,

persuasiveness, and beauty of the book? rST.6-8.7,9

8. analyze Kurlansky’s purpose in the opening paragraph for each

chapter. use evidence from the text to explain how the content

contributes to the development of ideas and how he supports specific

points. rST.6-8.6/rI.6.5

9. Do you feel the author uses loaded language or includes or avoids

particular facts? rST.6-8.6

10. Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in the text,

distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence

from claims that are not. rI.6.8

11. analyze in detail how Charles Darwin is introduced and illustrated

throughout the book. What was Darwin’s greatest contribution

according to Kurlansky? explain.

12. explain the roles and relationships among producers, consumers, and

decomposers in the process of energy transfer in a food web.

13. Discuss how the entire earth can be considered a single food web.

14. list some examples of ways in which organisms interact and have

different functions that promote the survival of an ecosystem.

15. How can adaptation and environment lead to the extinction of a

species?

16. use information from World Without Fish to support this statement:

“a great diversity of species increases the chance that at least

some living things will survive in the face of large changes in the

environment.”

17. Fishermen have always taken fish from the sea. explain the historical

impact of the fishing industry. How has the industry changed and what

lessons can we learn from its history? rH.6-8.3

18. Why is it important to examine the past?

19. What impact did the Industrial revolution have on relationships

between people and nature, politics, art, and architecture?

20. Discuss the impact of the fishing industry as a whole on marine life.

21. explore issues pertaining to specific fish species.

22. Discuss the impact of overfishing in the late 1990s. What evidence

proved its existence?

23. How is overfishing a global issue?

24. What are the effects of climate change on ocean life?

DiSCuSSioN guiDE

Continued

WO R K M A N • WO R K M A N . c O MWORKMAN is a registered trademark of Workman Publishing Co., Inc.

25. Discuss the history of the Grand banks and how it impacted the belief

that fish populations could in fact be completely destroyed.

26. How can we help fish re-populate? Can we simply stop fishing? What

about fish farming? explain.

27. What did the Orange roughy fish teach us about commercial fishing

far out at sea?

28. explain why this particular fish is one of the most threatened.

29. Discuss the ongoing debate between scientists and fisherman.

30. Discuss the misconception that fish can never go extinct because

they lay so many eggs.

31. What is the key to success for all life on earth?

32. Discuss the deadly pollutants that affect ocean ecosystems.

How do they affect you personally?

33. Discuss the opportunities available to save the planet.

34. How did you connect personally to World Without Fish?

35. Write a letter to Mark Krulansky explaining how the book changed or

validated the way you think and feel.

1. How do our choices affect ourselves, our communities,

and the world?

2. What is your responsibility to yourself, your community,

and the world?

3. How can one individual make a difference?

4. How can a group of individuals make a difference?

5. What can you do to make change in a system?

6. What will you do?

DiSCuSSioN guiDE

ThiNk AbouT iT!

VenDOr bOOK TITle ISbn JOb DaTe GraDeGuided reading level

Grade level equivalent

aTOS rrl leXIle CCSSStrand

Workman Publishing World Without Fish 9780761185000 8/27/2014 6 X 6 n/a l.6.4,4a,4c,4d,5,5b,5c,6

Workman Publishing World Without Fish 9780761185000 8/27/2014 6 X 6 n/a Sl.6.1,1a,1b,1c,1c,2,3,4,5,6

Workman Publishing World Without Fish 9780761185000 8/27/2014 6-8 X 6 n/a WHST.6-8.2,2a,2b,2c,2d,2e,2f,9,10

Workman Publishing World Without Fish 9780761185000 8/27/2014 6-8 X 6 n/a WHST.6-8.1,1a,1b,1c,1d,1e,4,6,7,8

Workman Publishing World Without Fish 9780761185000 8/27/2014 6-8 X 6 n/a rH.6-8.1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10

Workman Publishing World Without Fish 9780761185000 8/27/2014 6 X 6 n/a rI.6.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10

Workman Publishing World Without Fish 9780761185000 8/27/2014 6-8 X 6 n/a rST.6-8.1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10

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